Sound as a Milford

Trip Start Apr 20, 2007
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Trip End Nov 2007


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Thursday, September 20, 2007

Te Anau... our base for the Milford Sound bus trip we booked in Dunedin (we decided that we'd have a break from driving for the day and it meant that we'd definitely catch a boat rather than turning up too late after stopping too many times to get photos). There's not a lot to say about the town (we only had a short wander but there was only the one street) other than the lake is gorgeous and it was home to a very creepy mannequin advertising 'Hot Chips'.  We arrived at the meeting point, met the driver, a man called Bryce who all day reminded me of Steve Irwin but without the confidence. When we set off he told us that we should all stand up and introduce ourselves to each other... we thought he was joking but it turned out he wasn't and the folks that had already been on the bus since Queenstown were less than impressed at having to do it all again, it was terrifying for some reason. It reminded me of those many many sales courses I've been on where I'd have to stand up and tell everyone who I worked for and what my job entailed, only this time I had to tell everyone that I was on an 8 month holiday... Anyhoo, we arrived at the 1st stop, a bird sanctuary which was all of a minute down the road, this is where we got a real taste of what Bryce was like, he knew lots but had no idea how to communicate it with us, either that or he was having a personal bet with himself to tell us the things he's told everyone else he's ever driven but without using any of the same words. My personal favourite fact of that particular part of the day is 'this wood pigeon weighs about as much as a rock the same size' he told us about how the Maori ate loads of birds to extinction but at the same time was telling us just how much meat you'd find on the birds he was showing us... weird. 
 
As the trip progressed, it appeared that grammar had gone out of the window as well, his golden chunks of information included 'Rocks and snow are some of the items that is a problem' he was lovely, and hilarious.
 
There were a few stops along the way and we chatted to some people including Vic, the physiotherapist who we were to bump into again in Wanaka. The Chasm was my favourite stop, rocks from the mountain were washed down the river and had worn away the rock bed at this point, forming some really really cool smooth holes and patterns. Just before we got to the Homer Tunnel (where Bryce wanted us to take part in an impromptu naked fun run, there is one every year, but we'd missed it). He told us that he'd got us some muffins and cookies and would put em out on the table on the boat, but they were for us, and only us - when we met her again Vic told us the story of Bryce chasing 2 French kids to take their muffins back off them ...
 
Milford Sound is Byooooooootiful, the sun was shining and the rainbows were forming off the waterfalls, the seals and the penguins were around and there were hardly any other boats out. The sheer size of the place is breathtaking. Photos don't do it justice even though they themselves are beautiful, the whole area is just, well, majestic I guess, and serene. Our boat was quite tiny so it could take us in under the falls, only one of which caught me by surprise (the waterfalls are amazing and apparently it's best to go after or during a rain storm, then they are mental) the water in the sound looked black, which it wasn't but the effect was really unusual. After an hour or so of jawdropping scenery it was time to get back into the Bryce bus, he drove us to Monkey Creek where we all filled our bottles with the tastiest water ever, and then home to Te Anau, we got talked to by an old man who abandoned his wife to come and find out our life history, which was nice.
 
We declined the offer of an over priced meal with the others and went back to Jucy to eat something from a tin... we were off to Queenstown next!!!
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